HONG KONG — Hong Kong lifted a weeklong quarantine Friday of an upscale hotel where Asia’s first swine flu case was traced, allowing 280 guests and workers to end an isolation that was criticized as overkill by some but a medical necessity by author
HONG KONG — Hong Kong lifted a weeklong quarantine Friday of an upscale hotel where Asia’s first swine flu case was traced, allowing 280 guests and workers to end an isolation that was criticized as overkill by some but a medical necessity by authorities. Towing suitcases and beaming, some guests of the Metropark Hotel found it hard to contain their delight as they poured from the glass double doors to waiting buses, divided from waiting reporters by metal barriers. "I’m happy! I love Hong Kong people!" shouted a South Korean businessman, before breaking into song and hugging a policeman as he stepped out. He did not give his name. "It’s nice to smell fresh air," added a British man who identified himself as Matt. Asia has so far been largely spared the virus that continues to claim lives in worst-hit Mexico, which announced its 45th death and 159 more cases Friday, even as it took more steps to emerge from a national shutdown that closed schools and businesses, and shuttered churches and soccer stadiums. Cases of the virus also popped up in two more Latin American countries. With Brazil and Argentina confirming their first cases, the virus has now spread to 26 countries, killed 47 people and sickened more than 2,500 worldwide. Previously, Colombia was the only South American country with a confirmed case. In Asia, only Hong Kong and South Korea have confirmed cases of swine flu so far — just four in all and no fatalities — but governments remain mindful of the impact in recent years of bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Top health officials from a dozen east Asian nations meeting in Thailand on Friday agreed on a strategy to help stockpile anti-flu drugs and improve monitoring. Hong Kong’s swift lockdown of the Metropark — imposed after diagnosing the 25-year-old Mexican who flew to the city via Shanghai a day earlier — has been criticized by some as an overreaction and initially irked guests stuck inside. But the government has been unswayed. "We all understand the boredom, the frustration they experienced during the quarantine period," Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang told reporters outside the hotel. "We are thankful for the sacrifice they have made for the sake of public health." "It feels very good to get out," said one of the freed guests, Indian businessman Kevin Ireland. He expressed some annoyance over missing business meetings but concluded: "I think finally the government must do what the government must do." The 25-year old Mexican, who had been confined in the hospital, was also released Friday, according to a statement from Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority. Mexico has been angered by the steps of some responses internationally to the swine flu outbreak, protesting what it called discriminatory trade and travel restrictions abroad. Finance Secretary Agustin Carstens announced that Mexico’s economy is officially in recession and could contract by 4.1 percent this year because of the swine flu and a decline in exports to the U.S. Some countries have "developed some attitudes, which I will straightforward qualify as discriminatory against Mexicans," Mexico’s U.N. envoy, Luis Alfonso De Alba, said at U.N. headquarters in Geneva. "Having a Mexican passport has become a problem." Mexico will press for a debate on the issue at a World Health Organization meeting May 18-27, he said. China has quarantined travelers from Mexico, and several nations have restricted Mexican food exports or travel to and from the country. Singapore is now requiring that Mexican nationals get visas and that travelers arriving from Mexico be confined for seven days on arrival. No such rules apply to the U.S., though the U.S. Embassy again urged citizens Friday to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico. In Geneva, the WHO said based on past outbreaks, it is possible that a third of the world’s population, or about two billion people, could become infected if this outbreak turns into a two-year pandemic. Independent experts agreed it was possible but pointed out that many would not show any symptoms. "If you look at past pandemics, it would be a reasonable estimate to say perhaps a third of the world’s population would get infected with this virus," WHO flu chief Keiji Fukuda said Thursday. People with chronic illnesses are at greatest risk for severe illness from the flu, along with the elderly and young children. So far, most of those with the swine flu in the U.S. and Mexico have been young adults. A report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said America’s two swine flu deaths — a toddler and a pregnant woman who both died in Texas— each suffered from several other illnesses when they were infected with the virus. The CDC report released by the New England Journal of Medicine said the Mexican toddler had a chronic muscle weakness called myasthenia gravis, a heart defect, a swallowing problem and lack of oxygen. The 33-year-old woman had asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, a skin condition called psoriasis and was 35 weeks pregnant. Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said Friday tests confirmed Mexico has had another 1,319 cases, up 159 from Thursday. He continued to insist the outbreak is decreasing here and that Mexico’s caseload had spiked on April 26. Restaurants, movie theaters, bars and businesses across Mexico reopened Thursday, and students returned to high schools and universities for the first time in two weeks. Primary schools and day care centers reopen next week, while fans will be allowed to attend soccer games and churches will reopen this weekend, authorities said. Mexico’s government said it was not letting its guard down and that all students are being checked for swine flu. It gave an additional $15 million to Mexico’s 32 state governments to buy whatever is needed to disinfect classrooms and provided educators with a guide on ways to protect schools from the virus. But at a public high school in the southern city of Oaxaca, an Associated Press reporter did not see any returning students wearing masks, and no doctors or health officials checked people at the door or distributed sanitizing gel. At a Tijuana high school, nurses distributed sanitizing gel and school officials patrolled halls to stop students from kissing. The precautions irked Liliana Tornero, 17. "I’m annoyed they put gel on our hands like we’re kindergartners," she said. "I know they are just trying to take care of us, but it’s too much." Contributions from Associated Press writers Istra Pacheco in Mexico City, Ixtli X. Martinez in Oaxaca, Manuel de la Cruz in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mariana Martinez Estens in Tijuana, Alexander G. Higgins and Eliane Engeler in Geneva, and AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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